Galactic Republic - Republic Military

Republic Military

While the Republic had an Army and Navy for thousands of years, after the Rusaan Reformations, the Republic did not maintain a military except for a small force known as the judicial forces and the Jedi Knights as "keepers of the peace."

Several trade organizations, such as the Trade Federation and Commerce Guild, kept armies of droids in order to protect their profits and occasionally took advantage of this, such as when the Trade Federation invaded and occupied Naboo, resulting in the Battle of Naboo. Individual sectors also maintained their own security forces, such as Naboo Security Force or the CorSec from Corellia, and these were sometimes used to combat small threats. However there was no centralized command, and the members of the Republic were loath to change this. Since most of the military power within the Republic's territory was not actually controlled by the Republic, but as depicted in Attack of the Clones, by member planets such as Naboo or organizations such as the Techno Union and the Intergalactic Banking Clan, the ability of the Senate to enforce its decrees was severely limited, and it was forced to rely on the Jedi. Conversely, however, the Trade Federation and other cartels within the Republic, some of which were represented in the Senate, held that a Republic government which lacked significant military power was just what they wanted, since it couldn't control them.

The Clone Wars changed all this. The Republic initially had no standing military to deal with the Confederacy of Independent Systems; therefore a Military Creation Act was proposed, which was strongly opposed by many of the Republic's pacifist leaders, such as Padmé Amidala of Naboo, who feared the possibility of going to war. Supporters included Orn Free Taa of Ryloth and Ask Aak of Malastare.

However, a Clone Army had already been created in secret on the planet Kamino ten years before by Master Syfo-Dias. When it became clear the Confederacy had no intention of negotiating with the Republic, the Republic adopted this army as the Grand Army of the Republic, along with AT-TE walkers, gunships and other the Republic Open Circle Fleet, most of which were produced by Rothan Heavy Engineering. The Republic's war effort was initially hindered because most of the major industrial combines in the Galaxy had, under the aegis of the Techno Union, sided with the Confederacy. The Kamino-bred clones formed the nucleus of the Republic's new army, and were swiftly augmented by clones from other sources as well as traditional recruiting; within a few years of the Battle of Geonosis, the Republic's military had expanded astronomically and had become the preeminent military force in the Galaxy. The rapid militarization of the Republic during the Clone Wars, overseen by Chancellor Palpatine, had far-reaching effects: the Senate's powers were reduced, the military became the primary arm of the government, and the Republic swiftly transitioned into Palpatine's New Order.